Healing
by ScareGlow
Summary: The 4th story, takes place after Two More Talks. Faith and Xander have become friends, but what happens when Xander gets critically injured in another fight against demons? R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (unsurprisingly), and I do not earn anything with this story (except hopefully a few reviews).

AN: This is my fourth story, and it's set a couple of weeks after "Two More Talks". If you haven't read the first three stories, I suggest you do so for better understanding.

And now, enjoy! As always, feedback is very welcome!

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In the so-called "Slayer Central", Xander sat on the couch of the living-room. The TV was on, but he didn't even notice it, for he was lost in thought.

The last few weeks had been very strange, but in a very positive way. Since the day he'd made up with Buffy, everyone had been extremely nice to him: The baby slayers had treated him with utmost respect, bordering on being ridiculous with their wide-eyed stares and timidity. He suspected that someone must've told them a few things about him (and probably have exaggerated while doing so); there could be no other reason for their behaviour.

Buffy had been exceptionally nice as well; it was clear she was more than relieved and happy that they were still friends, and it showed. He'd never been hugged or smiled at by Buffy as often as in these past few weeks. She'd also obviously learned from her mistakes: She didn't disregard other opinions as quickly as she used to, especially not his. In fact, she often sought his advice these days when it came to tactics and slayer operations.

Kennedy had been very sweet to him ever since he'd returned from hospital after the vineyard battle; he supposed Willow had told her girlfriend a lot about their past, because Ken had been rather waspish before.

Willow tried to spend as much time with him as she could these days, but she was travelling a lot, bringing in slayers; even Kennedy sometimes complained about never having a quiet moment with her.

Dawn patrol had been as loveable as always; she'd been the sister he would've liked to have for as long as he could remember.

Even the phone calls with Giles, who was back in England, rebuilding the Watcher's Council, had clearly shown how much the senior watcher obviously respected him, a concept so surprising that Xander had needed some time to wrap his mind around it.

And then there was Faith. The change in her had been the most significant of all. Whenever she'd caught sight of him these past few weeks, a radiant smile appeared on her face. They'd spent a lot of time together, talking, watching movies, preparing for patrols (well, she prepared and he kept her company) and generally hanging out. He had to smile when he thought about her. Who would've thought they'd ever become friends?

As if on cue, the raven-haired beauty entered the living-room, bringing him out of his reflections. "Yo, X! You ready?"

He rose. "Sure. Just need to get my coat, and I'm good to go."

She frowned. "You know I'd feel better if you stayed here…"

He sighed with exasperation. "We've been over this, Faith. I won't stay behind and guard an empty house when everyone else is out fighting. Tonight's a big night, and I'll be there watching your backs, even if it's with only one eye." Seeing that her frown didn't disappear, he continued, taking a step towards her. "I have to do something, something useful. Don't make me feel like I'm no help." His voice had become very quiet towards the end.

She looked into his eye intently. "You know that's not it. I…" She looked away for a moment before returning her gaze at him. "I'm just worried. I don't wanna lose you."

Xander could almost feel the tension rising. There had been a few moments like this in the last two weeks, moments when the mood would suddenly shift, become much more personal and intimate. Xander shook it off.

"Then you should understand that I feel the same way about you and the others."

When he mentioned the others, hurt briefly flickered through her eyes. She turned away. "Well, if that's how you're feeling…" With that, she walked toward the door.

Xander blinked in confusion. "Faith! What did I say?" He could see that he had somehow hurt her, but he couldn't figure out how.

She didn't stop. "Nothing, everything's five by five. You coming?"

He hurried after her. "Faith, wait!" He quickly caught up with her. "Faith, please, I don't –"

"Xander!" he was interrupted by Buffy, who appeared in the doorway. "Are you ready?"

He looked at Faith for a moment, hoping for any kind of response from her, but all she did was glare at him defiantly. He sighed and turned. "Yeah," he quietly responded. "Let's go."

For a second, Faith felt the urge to stop him and tell him what bothered her, but she suppressed the impulse. They had to focus on the upcoming battle now.

-

The battle was indeed grand.

Faith grunted, decapitating another demon. She had lost count of how many she'd killed, and the foul creatures still kept coming. Once again, some demon worshippers had thought it would be a swell idea to open a portal to the dimension of their "gods", and now all hell was loose. Several of the young slayers and at least two watchers that she knew of had already fallen to the onslaught, and Faith felt her strength slowly leaving her as well. If they didn't manage to close the portal soon, they'd kick the bucket this time.

The Bostonian saw Buffy and a few of the most experienced slayers trying to get to the portal. She hoped the blonde would manage to get through and close the damn thing, because she sure as hell wasn't going to be able to join in the portal closing fun anytime soon, not with another pack of demons charging her.

"How many of you suckers do I have to kill to get the message across? You're not welcome here!" she snarled, taking another demon head off with a swing of her short sword. The demons either didn't understand or didn't care to answer, as they merely kept attacking her.

"Just great!" Faith grunted. Then she noticed three slayers hovering a short distance behind her, obviously scared to enter the fray.

"Yo!" she hollered to them while stabbing yet another demon. "Get your sorry asses over here and fight!" Scared slayers? Who'd ever heard of something like that?

Her bellow made them cringe, but it also caused them to finally attack the demons.

Faith uttered a string of curses as one of the demons managed to land a solid blow to her shoulder before she severed first his arm and then his head from his body. Her latest kill earned her a short reprise, and panting, she tried to assess the situation. Buffy had almost reached the portal now, and it was about time, too: the number of demon corpses was almost too large to count, but what made Faith grind her teeth were the bodies of fellow slayers that lay in the midst of the fallen enemies. She recognised a few of them, and it made her stomach turn. She forced the unpleasant feeling down. No time for mourning the fallen now; they had a battle to win first.

She looked around: The three slayers who had just joined the fight seemed to have everything under control, so she decided to try to get to the portal as well. After all, there was no way she'd let Buffy hold over her head that she'd missed all the real action! She'd fought her way toward her goal halfway through, when she saw something that caused her heart to miss a beat: Buffy was just dealing with the worshippers when a demon attacked her from behind. There was no chance she'd be able to dodge or deflect the attack as she hadn't even seen it coming, and that's when Xander jumped in between her and the monster, parrying the blow. How the hell had Xand managed to get into the thick of the battle? Damn him!

She redoubled her efforts to get to them; she knew Xander could hold his own in a fight, but with the attacks coming from all sides, he was at a serious disadvantage, unable as he was to see what was happening on his left side. Relief flooded through her when she saw Kennedy join him on his left; at least he wasn't completely on his own now and his blind side covered.

Faith had almost reached them, when it happened: Kennedy was pushed aside by an especially vicious attack, and Xander, keeping a demon in front of him at bay, was hit by a spear in his no longer protected left side.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, but then everything happened at hyper speed: Xander collapsed with a pained sigh; Kennedy screamed at the top of her lungs, hurling herself at Xander's attacker with tears leaking from her eyes; Buffy turned, having just defeated the last demon worshipper, and blanched at the sight before her.

Faith didn't feel anything, no exhaustion, no pain, nothing. Suddenly, she found herself at his side, cradling his motionless body. Only later would she find out that she'd hacked through almost a dozen demons in mere seconds to reach him. The only thing she registered was the one-eyed carpenter, who lay unconscious on the ground and was bleeding from a deep wound in his side. Never one to think about decorum, Faith ripped her skin-tight top from her body and pushed it against his wound to stop the bleeding. The next thing she noticed, Buffy was at his side, too, checking for a pulse and barking out orders at everyone around her. With the demon worshippers beaten, the portal had collapsed and the remaining demons quickly been finished off by the slayers and watchers. It didn't feel like a victory to Faith, though. Xander was much too pale, and he just wouldn't wake up. What if he didn't make it? What if their last conversation had been a petty argument that she'd been too stubborn to resolve? She didn't even want to think about it; he had to pull through!

She didn't know how long she'd pressed her top against his wound when someone softly tried to move her away from him. Panic set in. They couldn't take her away from his side! She began trashing wildly, when Buffy's voice somehow reached her.

"Faith! Faith, it's okay! They're medics! They're treating Xander! They're helping him!"

Somehow, after a moment, the meaning of these words registered with the distressed brunette, and she finally allowed herself to be led away by her blonde colleague. More words reached her.

"Come on, put this on."

Someone handed her a jacket. When she tried to slip into it, she noticed how much her entire body was shaking. Carefully touching her face, she realised that she was crying and probably had been ever since Xander had collapsed. Slowly, she began to notice her surroundings: Buffy was at her side, her eyes very red, but she seemed to be keeping her head. Xander was on a stretcher now and being carried to an ambulance. The surviving slayers and watchers were being treated as well where necessary, but Xander seemed to be the worst off. She swallowed hard, trying to stop her tears.

"I gotta go with him."

Buffy placed her hands on her shoulders. "Faith, listen. They're taking Xander to the hospital and into surgery. Let's go home and get cleaned up, then we can go and wait for him to come out of the O.P., okay?"

"But –"

"There's nothing we can do for him, and I think we don't want to look a mess when he wakes up, right?"

For the first time, Faith noticed how dirty, bloodied, smelly and exhausted she was. She caved in. "Okay, but we'll hurry, right?" she asked almost pleadingly.

Buffy gave her the best smile she could manage. "Sure."

Kennedy slowly approached them. "Faith…" Her voice was hoarse and subdued. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to keep him safe… I…" Her voice failed.

The Bostonian merely shook her head. "I saw it, Ken. Wasn't your fault. How're the others?" She didn't want to talk about it, and thankfully Kennedy realised it.

"We… we've lost a few girls. Reika, Liz, Sandrine, Leah, Andrea and Crystal. Mr. Richards and Mr. McLaggen didn't make it, either. The others are bruised, but they'll heal."

Faith nodded. "Should we take them home?" she asked, obviously trying to distract herself from her worries about the one-eyed carpenter, who was now being taken to the hospital.

This time, it was Buffy who answered. "That's already taken care of. Come on, there's nothing we can do here anymore. Let's get going."

Faith rose slowly. "Don't we have to answer questions? What about the police? What about the demon corpses?"

Buffy shook her head. "The bodies vanished, and we told the police the usual story."

The usual story was that they had suddenly been attacked by strangers and barely managed to subdue them.

Faith gave sort of a shrug and walked towards the cars with Buffy and Kennedy, wondering how long she'd been out of it, as everything had already been taken care of.

-

Only one hour later, Faith was pacing in the waiting area of the hospital, waiting for someone to tell her how Xander was. She'd cleaned her wounds, showered and dressed in one of her most conservative outfits (that still managed to attract a lot of looks) before jumping into one of the cars they owned and rushing over to the hospital in record time.

The only one with her was Kennedy; Buffy had stayed behind to take care of the other slayers, but promised to follow as soon as she could.

The younger slayer was sitting in one of the cheap plastic seats the waiting room offered, looking thoroughly subdued. Finally, she couldn't take Faith's impatient pacing anymore. "Faith, please sit down for a moment."

The Bostonian looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "I can't sit now, Ken! Not when we don't know if he… if he'll make it."

Kennedy gulped. "I'm sorry."

Faith took a calming breath. It didn't help much, but it was better than nothing. "Listen, it's not your fault he's here. Damn foolish man should've stayed out of the fight!"

Kennedy shook her head. "I failed him. Now he's in the hospital because of me… again."

"Not because of you. Because of the decision he made. He wanted to fight, Ken; it just isn't in him not to help his friends." She almost snorted. "And he did save B's ass again, didn't he? Damn…" She shook her head. "White knight."

"What?" Kennedy looked at her, confused.

Faith's face showed a small, sad smile. "It's something Fang told me during one of his visits. X's always been Buffy's white knight. He'd do anything for her."

Kennedy noticed a hint of bitterness in Faith's voice. "He'd do the same for you." At Faith's sceptic look, she added: "Or Willow. Or Dawn."

The Bostonian had to smile, her eyes moist. "Yeah…"

"You like him very much, don't you?" Kennedy carefully asked.

"Yeah… He… he's the best guy I know…" She looked incredibly young for once. "I don't wanna lose him." It was barely more than a whisper.

Just as Kennedy was about to answer, Willow came storming in. Apparently, Buffy had called her, because she wasn't due to return for another week. Judging from her exhausted and somewhat ragged appearance, she had teleported back, something she usually loathed to do.

"How is he? Any word yet?"

It was her girlfriend who answered. "Nothing yet, Will; they're still operating."

The red-headed witch seemed to deflate a little. "And how are you holding up?"

Kennedy shrugged. "Well, we're waiting. Nothing much else we can do."

Willow sat down, putting her arm around her girlfriend. "I know… I hate waiting…" After a moment, she tried to smile a little. "At least you aren't hurt."

Suddenly, Faith was at her side. "Isn't there anything you can do? Some major wicca mojo you can work?"

The witch was taken aback by the pleading tone in Faith's voice. She'd never seen the buxom brunette so desperate; in fact, she had never seen her desperate at all.

"I'm sorry, Faith, but that branch of magic is the most dangerous and unstable one of all. There's a very good chance I end up hurting him more or even worse if I try something. I would've healed his eye weeks ago if it wasn't so dangerous."

"So there's nothing we can do?"

"I'm sorry," Willow repeated, trying to calm the devastated slayer. "We'll just have to wait and hope for the best."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (unsurprisingly), and I do not earn anything with this story (except hopefully a few reviews).

AN: This is my fourth story, and it's set a couple of weeks after "Two More Talks". If you haven't read the first three stories, I suggest you do so for better understanding.

Thanks for the nice reviews! And without any further ado, on to the second and last part of this story! Enjoy! And as always, feedback is highly appreciated!

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Dr. Martin Scowls entered the waiting-room at precisely eight o'clock in the morning, only to find the room full to the brim with young people, mostly girls, sitting in various states between wakefulness and sleep all over the room. He cleared his throat, introduced himself and asked who was here for Alexander Harris.

"We all are," replied a tender-looking blonde woman who'd stood up the moment he'd entered.

"Ah, yes," he replied, clearly surprised by the answer. "Well, Mr. Harris came in with a severe wound on his left…"

"How is he? Did he make it?" a buxom brunette interrupted him anxiously. From the way she looked, she had to be his girlfriend, Dr. Scowls deduced.

"Yes, he did make it, and we expect him to make a full recovery," he answered with a smile.

There was a moment of silence, but when his words had sunken in, cheers erupted from everyone in the room, and he found his hand shaken in an almost vicious grip by the blonde woman in front of him.

"Thank you, Dr. Scowls; when can we see him?"

-

It had been some of the worst hours of Faith's life, waiting for any word on how Xander was doing. If he didn't make it… No, she mustn't think like that!

About two hours after Willow had arrived, Buffy had joined them, together with pretty much every slayer and watcher the Slayer Central had to offer. In a very uncharacteristic show of friendship, Buffy had hugged Faith before sitting down, all the while never speaking a word.

At eight o'clock, a doctor finally had entered and told them Xander was alive and would recover. At those news, Faith almost fell back into her seat, overwhelmed and speechless with joy that just couldn't be expressed in any way. All the anxiety and fear left her, and it took her a moment before she understood that they could visit Xander as long as they didn't wake him up. Buffy looked at her with a beaming smile, and Faith finally managed a small smile of her own, tears of relief streaming down her cheeks. A small voice in the back of her head wondered when she'd become such a mushy idiot, but she didn't really care. Xander was going to be okay, and that was all that mattered. She rose from her seat and was promptly engulfed in a hug by Willow, who was crying herself and babbling about Xander being alive.

-

Xander groaned. Why did saving the world always have to include ridiculously high amounts of pain? Couldn't they just foil the evil guys' plans unscathed for once? He struggled to open his eye, and when he finally managed, he was greeted by lots of red hair right in front of him.

"Xander, you're awake," Willow gushed and hugged him carefully. "We were so worried. It took the doctors hours to patch you up. Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me, mister?"

He managed a small smile. "I'll try not to, Wills. How're the others?"

Her smile fell, and she told him about the slayers and watchers who hadn't made it.

"Damn," he murmured. "But the others are okay?"

Willow nodded. "The others are okay, just a few scraps and bruises, nothing major."

"Well, that's something anyway. And the bad men in the robes?"

"All finished."

"Good. So, did you get me any twinkies?"

Willow had to smile at that. "Of course I did. What kind of best friend do you think I am?"

He grinned. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"No, you haven't, so you're lucky I'm a nice and forgiving witch."

"Absolutely." Then his face turned serious. "I love you, Wills."

She sniffed a little and hugged him. "Love you too, Xander."

"Do you think you've monopolised him enough now, Willow?" a voice from behind the red-haired Wicca asked with mock sternness.

Willow stepped back with a smile. "Your impatience shall one day be your undoing, Miss Summers," she announced sagely.

"Out of my way now," Buffy said, unable to suppress a grin, before bending over and hugging Xander. "Hey there, hero."

"You must have me confused with someone, Buffy," he replied with a grin.

"Nope." She looked into his eye. "I'm pretty sure you're the one who saved my life… again. Thanks, Xander."

"Hey, don't mention it. It's nice to actually repay you at least a little for saving me so often."

She smiled. "Well, it's in my job description, you know. Slayer and all that."

He nodded, smiling as well. "It's in mine, too. Friend and all that."

Buffy's smile widened, and she bent over and kissed his forehead. "Thank you anyway."

"What?" he mock-scowled. "Not even a real kiss? That's cheap, you know."

She winked. "I'll leave that to someone else, I think."

Before he could ask her what she was talking about, Buffy had got up and made room for the next slayer in line, a very uncomfortable-looking Kennedy.

"Hey, Xander, how're you feeling?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, a little stabbish, but otherwise okay."

She blinked rapidly. "I'm so sorry, Xander… I was supposed to have your back, and I let them through…"

She was no longer able to contain her tears, and Xander pulled her into a hug that upset his left side. He ignored the pain, however, while holding the crying girl. After a moment, when he felt she'd calmed down a little, he spoke.

"Kennedy, I want you to answer me one question, okay?"

She merely nodded.

"Did you try your very best to stop them?"

She looked at him as if he was crazy. "Of course I did!"

He smiled. "Then you didn't do anything wrong, and you have nothing to apologise for."

Kennedy swallowed. "But… I should've been able to…"

"Ken, you may be a slayer, but that doesn't mean you can do anything. And you managed to keep them from killing me, cause I would definitely be dead if you hadn't been there, so thanks. The wound will heal. Just keep any spears away from me, okay?"

"Right." Suddenly, she smiled a little. "Even Britney?"

He shuddered excessively. "Especially Britney." Turning serious again, he asked: "So, everything alright between us?"

In response, she hugged him once more, before stepping back and allowing the last slayer in the room to come closer while the others piled out.

Faith sat down at his bedside with an unreadable expression on her face that made Xander a little uncomfortable.

"Eh, Faith? Are you okay?" he worriedly asked after a moment's silence.

"You damned idiot."

She'd spoken calmly, her face still an unreadable mask.

"Excuse me?"

"I ask you to stay out of the fight, but you have to go anyway. Then I ask that you at least stay out of the worst of it, and where do I find you? Right in the middle, close to that freakin' portal, risking your life."

"Umm, sorry?" he offered sheepishly.

Faith snorted, her mask finally slipping, showing a great sadness. "You shouldn't say sorry if ya don't mean it, Xand-Man." She sighed, looking at him. "You're lucky I care so much about ya, or I'd really kick your ass."

Xander's eye widened in surprise. Did she mean what he thought she meant?

"Faith…"

She seemed unsure what to do for a moment. "Ah, the hell with it."

With that, she bent down, gently placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him.

Xander was shocked at first, but it took him only a second to wrap his mind around the situation, and he quickly found himself responding to the kiss. It was not like the lustful kisses they'd shared the night she'd popped his cherry; this was soft, tender, full of feeling. He found that he quite liked it. When she leaned back up, she looked at him with an expression he'd rarely seen in her eyes: fear. He smiled, and she responded with a careful smile of her own.

"If I get kissed like this every time I wake up in a hospital, I think I could get used to being the punching-bag of demons," he quietly joked.

She snorted, blinking heavily. "Don't you dare," she whispered huskily, her eyes shimmering. "I was so scared I'd lose you…"

"Faith…"

"I've always lost what was important to me," she continued, not letting him cut in. "I guess that's fate's twisted sense of humour, or somethin'." She caressed his cheek with a tenderness that he'd never known her to possess. "I know you wanna be in the thick of the fight, but you gotta understand this: I can't lose you, too. The past weeks have been some of the best of my life, and that's all cause of you." She gave him a tearful smile that left him almost breathless.

"Faith…" he tried again, but she wasn't finished.

"You don't have to love me or anything, Xan. I'm happy being your friend, and after all I've done it's more than I deserve, but I really can't lose you, so please, whatever you do, please stay alive."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks now, and her voice sounded so desperate it almost broke his heart. He reached up with his hand and gently wiped her tears away.

"Faith, I'm so sorry. I didn't know… I'll stay out of the fight as best as I can, okay? To be honest, it was pretty scary, fighting with a blind side, surrounded by demons; it's not really something I want to do regularly. I'll concentrate on the briefing stuff, that kind of thing."

She looked at him, sniffing a little. "Really? You'd do that?"

He smiled. "Hey… You know I always do what I can for my girls."

She wiped the last of her tears off with the back of her hand. "And I am one of your girls?"

It was amazing how young and tiny her voice could sound, he noticed.

"Yes, you are. You're even one of my special girls." He winked, and she smiled.

"Special, eh?"

"Absolutely."

"So who else's on that list of special girls?"

"Buffy, Willow and Dawn. And after the last fight, I'll have to consider putting Ken on as well."

"And do the special girls get any privileges over the regular girls?"

"Sure."

"Oh? And what kind of privileges would that be?"

"Lots of things. I'd never take off my eye-patch in front of anyone other than my special girls, for example."

"You call that a privilege? How bout candy bars, money or foot rubs?"

"I'll think about it."

He yawned, and Faith smiled. She'd enjoyed their playful banter, but she could tell that he was running out of energy.

"Well, looks like someone's tired. I'd better let you get some shut eye. You need your beauty sleep, after all."

"Very funny, slayer." He yawned again. "Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"You bet." She squeezed his shoulder a little and turned to leave, when Xander called her.

"Faith?"

"Hm?" She turned back and looked at him questioningly. He seemed a little nervous all of a sudden.

"When I get out of here, would you… I don't know… like to catch a movie with me? Perhaps have some dinner?"

She smiled teasingly, her eyes sparkling. "Xander Harris, are you asking me out on a date?"

He blushed a little. "Well… I… yes, yes I do. So?"

She bent down and kissed him softly on the lips. "I'd love to," she whispered.


End file.
